The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mularkey out as Titans coach
First coach fired since 2002 after postseason win.
The Tennessee Titans split with coach Mike Mularkey after he revived a team with the NFL’s worst record over two seasons and led them to their first playoff victory in 14 years. Owner Amy Adams Strunk says the two sides “saw different paths to achieve greater success.”
The Tennessee Titans believe the potential reward from quarterback Marcus Mariota working with his third head coach in his fourth NFL season outweighs the risk of change. Or sticking with the same coach.
So now the Titans are looking for a new coach to replace Mike Mularkey and build off the franchise’s first playoff win in 14 years to make them a true NFL contender.
“There’s nothing more that I want for our fans than to bring a championship here,” general manager Jon Robinson said Monday. “I feel like it’s my charge to put the team in the best position to do that.”
The Titans fired Mike Mularkey on Monday, less than 48 hours after a 35-14 loss to New England in the AFC divisional round. Mularkey revived a team with the NFL’s worst record over two seasons and led them to their first playoff victory in 14 years only to become the first coach let go after winning a playoff game since San Francisco fired Steve Mariucci after the 2002 season.
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk turned to Mularkey in November 2015 when she fired Ken Whisenhunt after 23 games.
Mularkey went 2-7 down the stretch as the Titans finished 3-13 to land the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016. That capped a 5-27 record over 2014 and 2015 that was the NFL’s worst.
Mularkey led the Titans to back-to-back 9-7 records — their first consecutive winning records since 2007-08.
Strunk said in a statement Monday she talked with Mularkey about extending his contract over the past week since a 22-21 comeback win against Kansas City in the wild-card round.
His devotion to an offense he’s known since being offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh between 2001-03 may have cost him. He said Sunday he was prepared to move “full speed” ahead after talking with Strunk. He defended offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie’s play-calling, saying he was happy with Mariota’s development.
Mularkey finished 20-21 with the Titans. His career record is 36-53, having also coached the Bills and Jaguars.
Giants: Pat Shurmur reportedly will become New York’s coach. The Vikings’ offensive coordinator still has to finish the playoff run with his current team, but the Giants reportedly will offer him the job when he becomes available, and Shurmur is expected to accept it.
Lions: Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator of the Patriots, declined to address reports he will be the next Detroit coach during a teleconference Monday. “I’m really just in the same place as I was last week,” Patricia said. “I went through the process that the NFL allows us to go through and during the bye week I was able to have the opportunity to talk to a couple teams, which I did, and then quickly turn my focus to a very good Tennessee team and now I’m onto a very dangerous Jacksonville team.” The Lions are expected to hire Patricia as their next coach once the Patriots’ season ends. For now, they’re forbidden from finalizing a contract with him according to the NFL’s tampering rules.
Seahawks: Cornerback Jeremy Lane was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Sunday in Seattle. Lane, 27, is under contract for two more seasons but could be cut by Seattle this offseason to save salary-cap space. Lane has been with the Seahawks since 2012. He has appeared in 70 games and started 21. He was briefly traded to Houston this season but returned to Seattle after failing his Texans physical.